Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-07
CHEROKEE CITIZENSHIP.
A Letter from Commissioner Atkins
to the United states Agent for the
Five Civilized Tribes.
The Interior Department Reserves the
Right to Decide Whether or not q
Claimant Is an Intruder.
SpecIal to the Gazette.

ClIlZeQSQlp receive IaT more COQSlQ6ra-
ton at Washington than is generally sup
pose d is indicated by letter recently
addressed by Hon. j. d. G. Atkins, Com
missioner of Indian Affairs, to r. L. OW-
en-, U1ited States agent for the five civil
lied tribes. In this letter, the course
which the department proposes to pur-
sue is very clearly and emphatlcally laid
down and the Cherokees are given to
understand that their claim to the right
of finally determining these cases will
not be recognized, nor will the agent be
permitted to do so. In the same in
strument, Chief Bushyhead receives Rn
apparently deserved reprimand for g slip
of the pen as displayed in an official COM
munication addressed to the department
On the whole the Commissioners letter
probably contains novery welcome intel
ligence to the Cherokee officials, but the
various claimants will be in no wise cha
grined by its utterances. 1t may be as
well to state that the letter was not made
public by Chief Bushyhesd nor given out
by Agent Owen, who is himself q Chero-
kee, but was obtained from the files of
the Indian Bureau at Washington. Here
it is:
SIR: l have your letter of March %,
1887, inclosing one from Chief Bushyhead
dated March Il, 1887, with which he
transmits a communication from h. +.
WHY, the Cherokee nations attorney be-
fore the commission appointed to hear
applications for admission 10 Cherokee
citizenship under an act of the National
Council approved December 8, 1886.
Mr.. WHY presents for the considera-
ton Of the executive of the Cherokee ma
tion the propriety OF requesting this de
partment to require all persons resident
in the nation holding prima facie certih-
Gates of citizenship to present their
claims before the commission provided
for by the act of council of December 8,
1886, within the time prescribed by said
act, and whether it would not be an act
of Justice to revoke all certificates issued
to parties unless they shall comply with
the provisions of said act.
Mr.. WHY submits these suggestions for
the reason, ne says, there is an eviden5
intention, notably manifested by recent
publication of one W. j. Watts advising
parties ID abstain from presenting their
claims before said commission. Chief
Bushyhesd, in forwarding M. WHY'S
letter TO you, approves the recommended
tons therein contained, and requests the
issuance of the necessary orders by this
department with the remark that "suCh
parties Claimants to citizenship have
presumed to rely upon the Indifference or
cOnnivance Of the general government to
enable them to protect their residence in
the country indefinitely, as persons hold
ing prima facie certificates"
You state in your letter forwarding
these papers that you think 1t would
be injurious to the country that the
CherOkees should be allowed to feel, by
failure to take action in these matters,
that there was any Indifference or con-
nivance" as suggested by Mr.. Bushy-
heads letter.
Upon this subject 1 desire to say that
this departmenthas ever been willing and
ready to adopt some means for the settle
ment of this veXed question, honorable
and Just, alike t. the claimants and the
Cherokee nation. 1t is q fact, borne out
by the records Of this office, that every
reasonable effort has been made by this
department 70 induce the Cherokees to
adopt some measure with that end in
view. | myself have given the subject
thorough investigation and much Consid-
eration. / have been OF the opinion, am
now, and so stated in my report to the
Secretary of the Interior on the 22d of
June, 1856, that the proper and most fair
Wey 10 determine this question was the
establishment OF 8 commission to consist
Of two persons, one to be appointed by
the Secretary of the Interior and one by
the principal chief of the Cherokees, the
unanimous decision of the commission to
be final, and in case of 8 disagreement
they to appoint third; thedecision Of
& majority to be final.
No doubt there are many persons claim !
ing citizenship in the Cherokee nation
who have no rights, and who, perhaps,
are aware Of that fact, but there are at
least some honest claimants. These PEG
pie have all been allowed to remain and
make Improvements in the Cherokee
country for the reason, solely, that the
Cherokee authorities would consent to no
fair and just plan of deter
mining their rights and status.
This department has manifested no |
indifference or conniYance" in this mat |
ter, of (which fact no one is better In
formed than Chief BushYhead, and ne |
should be more careful in the choice of |
his language in communications of an |
official nature.
l have taken q firm stand upon one |
point in this matter, and it makes no diff |
ference whether or not it be termed by |
the Cherokees indifference or conni-
vance," ana tbat is this: l will not,
lno wingly, be party to any sct which
will result in depriying these claimants
to Cherokee citiz- nship of one dollars
worth of property.
stated in my report to the depart
nent dated March %, 1887, that, GAS the
Cherokee nation has seen fit to take the
of the claims into its own
hands, do not see that any action is
necessary on the part OF the department
kept to inform the Cherokee authori-
les that it will determine for itself
whether or not any person shall be re-
moved as an intruder, and it will not
permit any person TO be deprived of his
Improvements without fair considera-
ion for the same" The department
:oncurred in these views by the let er
lated March %, 1887.
Every man is entitled to q fair consid- ]
ration for his property, though he may !
lave obtained it in the Cherokee country |
y virtue of rights claimed by MIN there, /,
nd as herelnbefore indicated, | shall !
axe ono action that will deprive him :
hereof without a just compensation /
herefor.
My views as to how claims to citizen ]